Book Review -- Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?

Bill James is overflowing with genius in this great analysis of Cooperstown inductees. So much so that it’s not clear to me why Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame? never seems to appear on lists of the best baseball books of all time. Perhaps renaming it “Everything You Wanted to Know about Phil Rizzuto (But Were Afraid to Ask)” would help it gain more notoriety among fans?

If you boil it down, James finds two key problems with the Hall: (i) there are players inside Cooperstown who should not have cleared the hurdle; and (ii) there are players outside Cooperstown who continue to wait for the call.

The biggest let down of the book was that James dwelled on the first category of players.

In fact, finding serious flaws with honorees is not that difficult, especially among Veterans Committee selections. Bill James, however, stands out among his peers because he is skillful not only with words, but also with numbers. 

Published in 1994, when he was at his peak as an author, James provides readers with a culmination of his methodologies:

• Similarity Scores
• The Hall of Fame Standards List
• The Black Ink Test
• The Hall of Fame Career Monitor
• Fibonacci Win Scores

Despite its age, Whatever Happened to the Hall? holds up well for two reasons: First, the “mistake” inductions will always be mistakes and they are just as relevant to read about today as they were in 1994. Second, James's persuasive arguments in this book have clearly nudged voters in the right direction since its publication.

Perhaps this book -- which has already been published under two different titles -- receives less adulation because it’s overshadowed by the ongoing Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James’s life work. Twenty years have passed since Whatever Happened to the Hall? was released. I believe the timing is right for a major update.

Favorite Line

If I were in control of the Hall of Fame’s selections, the first player I would choose would be Ron Santo.